Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Facts
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Facts
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| Interesting Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Facts: |
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| The Temple of Artemis is also known as the Temple of Diana. |
| Artemis was an Olympian God, the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was the goddess of the moon, and the goddess of the hunt. She was also the twin sister of Apollo. |
| The first temple was built in approximately 800 BC. |
| The first temple was destroyed in the 7th century. Reconstruction began in 550 BC. It took about 10 years to rebuild it. Some historians say it was destroyed due to a flood. Others believe it was due to war. |
| The second temple was approximately four times larger in area than the previous one. |
| Each time the temple was rebuilt it was on the same site. |
| The Antipater of Sidon, who originally made the list of the Seven Wonders of the World, described the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus as being more marvelous than any of the other six wonders. |
| The second time the temple was destroyed it was burned to the ground by Herostratus. He set the fire to make himself famous. It backfired because anyone who spoke his name was then sentenced to death. |
| The fire that Herostratus set took place on the same day that Alexander the Great was being born. |
| Years later, Alexander the Great visited the town and offered to help pay the cost of rebuilding it if they would put his name on it. The townspeople did not want to put his name on it so his name was not engraved anywhere on or in the temple. |
| The temple was finally rebuilt after Alexander the Great died. |
| This temple may have been the first one ever constructed of marble. It may also be the first building in history ever constructed of marble. |
| An East Germanic tribe (the Goths) destroyed the temple again in 268 A.D. |
| The temple was used at different times as a house of worship and as a marketplace. |
| The third time the temple was built it was 450 feet long x 225 feet wide. It was 60 feet high and had at least 127 columns. |
| The third temple lasted for about 600 years. When it was destroyed by the Goths in 268 A.D., it was never rebuilt. |
| One of the reasons it was not rebuilt was because the cost of construction would have been too high. |
| Some of the columns that were built in Hagia Sophia (a church in Istanbul, Turkey) are thought to have been originally part of the Temple of Artemis. |
| The site where the temple once stood is now a swamp. |
| St. John Chrysostom had the temple torn down in 401 A.D. |
| Remnants of the temple can be seen in the British Museum in London, England. |
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